Bruins Sign Turco

It doesn't appear that the Boston Bruins want to leave a portion of their playoff race in the hands of an AHL call-up, so as Tuukka Rask sits on the shelf with a abdomen/groin strain, the Bruins added a little bit more of NHL-proven depth to their crease by signing 36-year old backstop Marty Turco to a 1-year deal (for the remainder of the 2012 season, pro-rated), reportedly worth $600,000 annually.

The Bruins have a reasonable lead in the Northeast Division, with a number of games in hand, but adding a goaltender like Turco will give the team the added feel of security that they have a little bit more NHL experience in their net, while Rask is away.  The team will likely want to keep the number of games that Tim Thomas plays to a minimum down the stretch, as he will be the number one guy in Boston when the playoffs start and more teams are buying into resting their number one keeper, if they can.

Turco will not be eligible for playing in the playoffs, since his signing came after the NHL trade deadline and since he had played in Europe this season, he will have to clear waivers, in order to join the Bruins.  With his signing late on Monday, he should be placed on waivers on Tuesday, in order to clear on Wednesday.

As for pool importance, Turco doesn't have any.  He isn't eligible for any of the pools this season.